Cassette tape holder

ABSTRACT

An enclosed cassett tape holder including a circular magazine accessible through sliding doors and having a numbered index visible through the top wall to indicate the cassett available through the sliding doors. A chart is mounted beneath the holder to be slid from beneath the holder to a visible position to be able to see a title and number list of the cassetts stored in the holder.

finite States ?ate obb [ Oct. 16, 1973 CASSETTE TAPE HOLDER [76] Inventor: Louis R. Cobb, 1112 E. Delmas Ave., Nashville, Tenn. 37216 [22] Filed: July 2, 1971 21 Appl. No.: 159,340

[52] US. Cl 312/11, 3l2/234.2, 312/125 [51] Int. Cl. i7;f 3110 [58] Field of Search 3l2/234.l234.5,

[5 6] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,322,681 11/1919 Duffy 312/11 UX 1,426,844 8/1922 1 Wood 2,906,408 9/1959 Motyka et a1 21 l/40 395,197 12/1888 Atherton 312/234.5 2,952,498 9/1960 Powers et a1. 1112/234.1 542,189 7/1895 Fraizer 3l2/234.2

Primary ExaminerJames C. Mitchell AttorneyA1exander B. Blair et al.

[57] ABSTRACT An enclosed cassett tape holder including a circular magazine accessible through sliding doors and having a numbered index visible through the top wall to indicate the cassett available through the sliding doors. A chart is mounted beneath the holder to be slid from beneath the holder to a visible position to be able to see a title and number list of the cassetts stored in the holder.

' 1 Claim, 4 Drawing Figures Patented Oct. 16, 1973 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR.

AIME/v.5 rs.

Patented Oct. 16, 1973 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Z .00 E m6 m V 0 m 1 mg m 5 3 n M, M lllunnllllVllllllllfin B a a l I I l I I. Z -J u 5 n a U 4 4 5 a ML G T a m 7 z B CASSETTE TAPE HOLDER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to a magazine holder for cassett tapes.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A circular rotary magazine holder for cassett tapes is mounted in a housing and has a rotary number index visible through the housing to indicate the particular cassett exposed to a pair of sliding doors in the housing. A panel is slidably mounted to the underside of the holder and can be moved to a visible position in order to see the list of tapes and the number of their postion in the holder.

The primary object of the invention is to provide a holder for cassett tapes which conveniently supports a plurality of tapes and causes them to be readily available when desired.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent in the following specification when considered in the light of the attached drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a top plan view of the invention shown partially broken away and in section for convenience of illustration;

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken along the line 22 of FIG. 1 looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 1 looking in the direction of the arrows; and

FIG. 4 is a front elevation of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawings in detail wherein like reference characters indicate like parts throughout the several figures the reference numeral indicates generally a cassett tape holder constructed in accordance with the invention.

The holder 10 includes a generally rectangular base plate 11 supported on a plurality of relatively short legs 12 integrally secured thereto. A shelf 13 is secured to the underside of the base plate 11 to slidably receive a flat indicia panel 14.

A generally rectangular plate 15 is secured to the base plate 11 and has a groove 16 formed along each side edge thereof. An upwardly offset circular platform 17 is integrally formed with the plate 15 centrally thereof and has a semispherical socket 18 formed in the axial center thereof.

A generally rectangular box indicated generally at 19 is seated in the groove 16 and includes upstanding walls 20. A generally rectangular cover 21 has a depending flange 22 which engages over the top of the box 19. The cover 21 has an upwardly offset generally circular portion 23 with an axial bore 24 extending downwardly therethrough.

A hollow shaft 25 has a spherical glass bearing 26 supported in its lower end and the glass bearing 26 rests in the semi-spherical recess 18. The shaft 25 extends upwardly through the bore 24 of the cover 21 and has a knob 27 detachably secured to the upper end thereof by a bolt 28.

A lower disk 29 is secured to the lower end of the shaft 25 and has an annular recess 30 formed therein spaced outwardly from the shaft 25. The disk 29 has a plurality of radially extending grooves 31 formed therein with each groove 31 having recesses 32 formed therein. A cylindrical support tube 33 is seated in the recess 30 and extends upwardly from the disk 29 axially of the shaft 25.

An upper disk 34 is secured to the shaft 25 in spaced generally parallel relation with the disk 29. The disk 34 has an annular groove 35 formed therein to receive the upper end of the tube 33. The disk 34 has a plurality of radially extending grooves 36 with each groove 36 exactly overlying a groove 31 in the lower disk 29. Recesses 37 corresponding to the recesses 32 are formed in each of the grooves 36 to receive a portion of the tape cassett which is adapted to rest therein.

A generally circular inner cover 38 is secured to the shaft 25 and to the upper disk 34 in parallel relation to the cover 23. The cover 38 has indicia 39 printed thereon to be visible through a window 40 formed in the upwardly offset circular portion 23 of the cover 21.

A generally circular wall 41 surrounds the disks 29 and 34 and is secured to the bottom wall 15.

A pair of sliding doors 42, 43 are supported in track members 44, 45 to close the holder 10 to protect the cassetts therein.

In the use and operation of the invention standard cassetts are first recorded on the panel 14 with title and magazine number and then are inserted in the grooves 31, 36 with the corresponding magazine number visible through the window 40. The magazine is then rotated with the knob 27 until the next adjacent groove 31 and groove 36 is positioned to receive a cassett. After all of the cassetts have been loaded into the holder they may be removed as required for playing. By referring to the panel 14 the desired cassett can be located so that the magazine may be turned to permit the desired cassett to be extracted.

Having thus described the preferred embodiment of the invention it should be understood that numerous structural modifications and adaptations may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim:

1. A cassette tape holder comprising a housing including a generally horizontal base plate, said base plate having a semi-spherical socket formed centrally of the upper surface thereof, a single ball bearing journalled in said socket, a vertical hollow shaft having its lower end journalled on said ball bearing and supported for rotation at its upper end by said housing, an access opening formed in one side of said housing, means on said housing for selectively closing said access opening, a horizontal lower disc fixedly secured to the lower end portion of said shaft, said lower disc having a plurality of radially extending cassette receiving grooves formed in the upper surface thereof in circumferentially spaced relation, an upper disc fixedly secured to the upper end portion of said shaft in vertically spaced generally parallel relation to said lower disc, said upper disc having a plurality of radially extending circumferentially spaced grooves formed in the lower surface thereof with each of the grooves in said upper disc corresponding to a groove in said lower disc to receive the upper edge of a tape cassette supported in said lower disc groove, means extending between and rigidly connecting said upper and lower discs, a knob secured to the upper end of said shaft for rotating said shaft and said discs, a window formed in said housing and indicia carrying means in said upper disc visible through said window to selectively align the grooves of said upper and lower discs with the access opening in said housing. 

1. A cassette tape holder comprising a housing including a generally horizontal base plate, said base plate having a semispherical socket formed centrally of the upper surface thereof, a single ball bearing journalled in said socket, a vertical hollow shaft having its lower end journalled on said ball bearing and supported for rotation at its upper end by said housing, an access opening formed in one side of said housing, means on said housing for selectively closing said access opening, a horizontal lower disc fixedly secured to the lower end portion of said shaft, said lower disc having a plurality of radially extending cassette receiving grooves formed in the upper surface thereof in circumferentially spaced relation, an upper disc fixedly secured to the upper end portion of said shaft in vertically spaced generally parallel relation to said lower disc, said upper disc having a plurality of radially extending circumferentially spaced grooves formed in the lower surface thereof with each of the grooves in said upper disc corresponding to a groove in said lower disc to receive the upper edge of a tape cassette supported in said lower disc groove, means extending between and rigidly connecting said upper and lower discs, a knob secured to the upper end of said shaft for rotating said shaft and said discs, a window formed in said housing and indicia carrying means in said upper disc visible through said window to selectively align the grooves of said upper and lower discs with the access opening in said housing. 